As a single parent raising two grade school children, the idea of a home so close to ours is incredibly attractive.

My starting point for repairs is usually 5% of rent, but depending on the  age of the home, location of the home, and types of tenants I am attracting, I will adjust repairs up to 10-12% of gross rents.Have you incorporated taxes and insurance?

It attracts good tenants, who want the security of knowing what their monthly rent costs are going to be for a fixed period versus a "Hey, by the way, I'm going up $200 next month" text or e-mail. 

It all boils down to the price you pay to purchase, the cost to make the property habitable or attractive to another buyer and what its worth to you or someone else when you're finished.    

And set your rents a bit below market in order to attract high-quality tenants--it's way worth it!

I looked around a little bit and the numbers do seem to work much better, which is pretty attractive.

But, I'll use that for arguments sake.Basically, it stands as follows:$169,000 all in construction costs $50,000 lotI have access to money to buy the lot and attractive interest, I would need money for construction (most likely hard money), with a 6-month holding time (builder can do it in 4 months, but 2 months to sell).

One aspect specifically is to learn how to attract and engage private lenders.

Aside from the deal itself, managing the managers and a cut of the monthly cash flow - I don't know what would be considered 'attractive'. 

I would argue that anything under these minimal expectations probably isn't even habitable and wouldn't attract a non section 8 tenant.